Prayers and Meditations — §718

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 718 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

وقِهِ، قَدْ أَخَذَنِيْ جَذْبُ بَيانِكَ وَسُكْرُ رَحِيقِ أَلْطافِكَ عَلَى شَأْنٍ لا يَنْقَطِعُ نِدائِي وَلا تَرْجِعُ إِلَيَّ يَدُ رَجائِيْ، أَيْ رَبِّ تَرَى عَيْنِيْ ناظِرَةً إِلى شَطْرِ فَضْلِكَ وَسَمْعِي مُتَوَجِّهًا إِلى مَلَكُوتِ بَيانِكَ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Look, then, O Thou my God Who settest my soul on fire, upon the tears I shed, and the sighs I utter, and the anguish that afflicteth my heart and the fire that consumeth my being. Thy glory beareth me witness, O Thou, the Light of the world! The fire of Thy love that burneth continually within me hath so inflamed me that whoever among Thy creatures approacheth me, and inclineth his inner ear towards me, cannot fail to hear its raging within each of my veins.

Translation Notes

وقِهِ،

w-q-y → “Fear” Distinctive

literal: protection; safeguarding; prevention

قَدْ

q-d → “We have been”

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

أَخَذَنِيْ

ʾ-kh-dh → “laid hold” Distinctive

literal: take; take/seize; seize

جَذْبُ

j-dh-b → “attract” Distinctive

literal: to draw, attract, pull; to be enraptured

بَيانِكَ

b-y-n → “among” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

وَسُكْرُ

s-k-r → “inebriated”

literal: to become drunk; intoxication; inebriation

رَحِيقِ

r-ḥ-q

literal: wine; pure drink; choice beverage (metaphorical for divine knowledge and love)

أَلْطافِكَ

l-ṭ-f

literal: kindness; grace; gentleness; benevolence

عَلَى

ʿ-l-w → “upon the” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

شَأْنٍ

sh-ʾ-n

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

يَنْقَطِعُ

q-ṭ-ʿ

literal: to cease; to be cut off; to break off

نِدائِي

n-d-y → “voice”

literal: call; voice; cry; summons

وَلا

w-l-y

literal: friend; lord; guardian

تَرْجِعُ

r-j-ʿ

literal: return; returning; to return

إِلى

ʾ-l-y → “towards me”

literal: except; but; if not; lo; now; at this time; save; only; unless

يَدُ

y-d-y

literal: hand; power; strength; (plural) hands; agents; helpers; to assist, to support, to aid, to strengthen

رَجائِيْ،

r-j-w

literal: hope; expectation

أَيْ

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

رَبِّ

r-b-b → “my God” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

تَرَى

r-ʾ-y → “Thou seest”

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

عَيْنِيْ

ʿ-y-n → “eyes”

literal: eye; fountain; spring; essence; to appoint; to designate; to specify; to determine

ناظِرَةً

n-ẓ-r

literal: neck; slaves; those held in bonds

شَطْرِ

sh-ṭ-r

literal: side, direction; half; to split

فَضْلِكَ

f-ḍ-l

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

وَسَمْعِي

s-m-ʿ → “inner ear”

literal: heard, hearkened to, acceptable, worthy of attention

مُتَوَجِّهًا

w-j-h → “inclineth his” Distinctive

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

مَلَكُوتِ

m-l-k

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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The last outstanding Tablet revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, written around 1891 and addressed to Shaykh Muḥammad-Taqí of Iṣfahán. It calls upon that rapacious priest to repent, quotes the most celebrated passages from Bahá’u’lláh’s own writings, and adduces proofs establishing the validity of His Cause.

268 ¶

Fire Tablet

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Revealed in late 1871 during a period of severe hardship in ‘Akká, this Tablet takes the form of an anguished dialogue between Bahá’u’lláh and God. Questions about the sufferings of the faithful are answered with divine assurances, building to a crescendo of triumph over tribulation.

50 ¶

Gleanings

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A compilation of 166 selections from Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablets, spanning the Baghdad, Adrianople, and ‘Akká periods (1853–1892). George Townshend assisted with English refinement. Shoghi Effendi wrote that it gives the friends a splendid opportunity to acquire knowledge and understanding of the Faith.

729 ¶

Kitáb-i-’Ahd

Bahá’u’lláh

The Book of the Covenant — Bahá’u’lláh’s Will and Testament, written entirely in His own hand and unsealed on the ninth day after His ascension. It designates ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as His successor and establishes what Shoghi Effendi called the mightiest Covenant in all religious history.

16 ¶

Kitáb-i-Íqán

Bahá’u’lláh

The principal doctrinal work of the Faith, revealed in Baghdad within the space of two days and two nights in response to questions from the Báb’s maternal uncle. Shoghi Effendi described it as occupying a position unequalled by any work except the Kitáb-i-Aqdas — a model of Persian prose, at once original, chaste, vigorous, and remarkably lucid.

291 ¶

Tablet of Aḥmad

Bahá’u’lláh

Revealed in Adrianople and addressed to a believer named Aḥmad, this Tablet has been invested by Bahá’u’lláh with a special potency and significance. Its central imagery draws on the metaphor of fire and water: “Be thou as a flame of fire to My enemies and a river of life eternal to My loved ones.”

17 ¶

Tablet of Carmel

Bahá’u’lláh

Revealed during a visit to Mount Carmel, this Tablet addresses the mountain directly and prophesies its future as the world spiritual and administrative center of the Faith. Shoghi Effendi designated it one of three foundational Charters. Its imagery of the Ark and the dwellers therein prefigures the Universal House of Justice.

5 ¶

Tablet of the Holy Mariner

Bahá’u’lláh

Chanted aloud in the outskirts of Baghdad just weeks before the Declaration in the Garden of Riḍván, its gloomy prognostications aroused the grave apprehensions of all who heard it. Only the Arabic portion has an authorized translation; the Persian portion remains untranslated.

57 ¶

The Hidden Words

Bahá’u’lláh

Seventy-one Arabic and eighty-two Persian aphorisms revealed around 1858 while walking along the banks of the Tigris in Baghdad. Originally designated the “Hidden Book of Fáṭimih,” Shoghi Effendi described it as a marvelous collection of gem-like utterances occupying a position of unsurpassed preeminence among the ethical writings of the Faith.

160 ¶

Will and Testament

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in three parts between 1901 and 1908, opened and read after His passing on 28 November 1921. Shoghi Effendi designated it the Charter of the New World Order — the mightiest instrument forged to ensure the continuity of the three ages of the Bahá’í Dispensation.

59 ¶